Confessions of a Wannabe Ironman

In the Long Run

2008-02-18T10:27:00.004-06:00

Sunday morning brought stark contrast to the muddy soggy gray Saturday that preceded. I woke up, hit snooze a few times then rolled out to find Rebecca ready to go. She normally runs long on Saturday but the 2" of rain squelched that routine and her normal running group does not run on Sunday, so we decided to go together. I agreed to run the a loop around White Rock Lake (9.2 miles) with the guys (the single best collection of wing men on the planet) then do what we call a boat house run with Becca to finish off. We both had 16 on the docket. I hate that we don't run at the same speed because I really do enjoy running with her. But with the plan in place I thought it would be a good compromise.

Saturday Night we watched NBC's coverage (on the DVR) of the Ford Ironman World Championship. I have to say that the presentation was really phenomenal. There were about four moments where I welled up in emotion. It was really good for me to see. Two things came out of the viewing for me. One: motivation, which is always needed and two: a little bit of fear. After watching the mas start swim in slow motion, it made my gut churn thinking about how I am going to feel and experience when I am in the mix come race day morning.

Back to Sunday morning: I rolled out of bed and began digging in my running stuff trying to figure out how to dress for the cold morning that would turn into a nice warm day. It would be a beautiful spring-like day and I always try to plan the clothing choice for optimal efficiency. I don't know why, but I always seem to stress about this and always seem to nail it. With a cup of coffee, some Gatorade and a granola bar and a hand full of energy gels, we hit the road.

The first loop was great. I felt good and had no issues. Last week's long run was a good learning experience for me. I made a huge mistake and had failed to take any fuel. At about mile 11 I found myself struggling and cramping. Today, I planned to fuel and hopefully dodge the immense pain that resulted. It may sound sick, but I kinda like pushing the limits in training. I mean, when you get to those miles that are above the comfortable miles and you have to grit your teeth. When it happens, I spend time memorizing how I feel and pushing the pain envelope knowing that the pain will be the same if not worse come race day. I like to know what I can do under the pain and conditions knowing it will be useful in August. This day I would be testing energy gels to see what I like and what works. On the menu was Accel Gel.

I always like running with the guys. The conversations are always fun. Today, we discussed theological topics and the Ironman. Toward the end of the run, David and I talked about extreme training and I shared some goals and dreams of 4 mile swims across Lake Ray Hubbard and finishing sub 12 hours in the Ironman. David lives for these conversations... that is he lives to smash dreams and thinks he is the voice of reality. In this instance his comments were along the lines of, "yeah, right, you are out of you mind." This always fires me up and in some way issues a challenge that makes me want to step it up a notch. So I did, the last two miles of the loop I pushed it. He matched me stride for stride. Once back at the car, he stopped (had to get ready for church), I sucked down a gu and kept rolling, running back in the direction that Rebecca would be finishing. I ran fast until I met her then we ran together back to the car where she fueled, shed her jacket and prepared for the boathouse portion of our run. She had been sick with the flu for the past week and I could see it was taking its toll. She was in pain. Nevertheless, we pushed on for the remaining 7 miles. We ran together for about two miles then the pain forced her to walk a bit. I kept going and told her I would meet her at the boathouse. I ran strong and felt the miles start to creep up on me. It was here that I started to feel the elation that the pain brings me knowing this, in the long run and pain, is where Ironmen are made. I ran past the boathouse and turned around. We met as planned and began the trek back to the car. The elation of pain was not shared by my spouse and it was evident in her grimacing face. She urged me to go on and I did, running hard. I am sure I looked funny as I shuffled down the tarmac. It is times like this that I study the faces of the passing runners and cyclists wondering if they know. I wonder if they think I am struggling on mile two or if they know that I am about to finish an epic long run. I day dreamed of somehow having a display saying "mile 16" so they could share this proud moment of my self accomplishment. In reality, I think they probably just felt sorry for the poor fat kid trying to run. Oh well, I do this for me, so what does it matter. Secretly I tell myself they know and their silent judgment brings me motivation. It's the knowing nod from the passing runner wearing the I-dot logo that keeps me going. Once back to the car, I turned around and ran back to my bride wondering how she was making it. I ran as hard as I could and when I saw her, I was proud to see that she was running. We finished together and hugged in celebration of the accomplishment of another long run. For me, it was 17+ miles today.

I love the long run. I love to push the limits. Somewhere in there, for both of us, is learning and experience that is a metaphor of life in someway. It reminds me of a sermon that Jesus gave. This is why I run. You have to experience the pain and training to one day know the prize and enjoy the result of the training and trial. James 1:2 says: " Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." What a great illustration found in the long run.

Personal Record

2008-01-27T10:16:00.000-06:00

Wow, I cannot believe it is almost February! We have been blowing and going like crazy. I knew we would be busy this year with Young Life, the Marathon and Ironman, but I did not know just how busy... That was until we sat down with our coach (Chris Phelan) to plan out the year’s training and race schedule. It is really daunting to see just how much training goes into these endurance events.

Today, we are in Austin, TX. Rebecca and I just completed the Austin 3M half marathon. We both smashed our personal records for the half. I ran it in 1:57.48, a full five minutes faster than Chicago. Rebecca ran it in 2:17ish, which is ten minutes faster than her PR! So I guess all the training is worth it.

Anyway, we had a really nice time down here in Austin. It was nice to see some friends we have not seen in a while and I always like to Austin scene. Everyone is so active down here. I am really jealous of the soul that Austin seems to have. Dallas just seems so manufactured, everything is new and not yet seasoned with the time and tradition that generates soul. In Austin, the communities fight to preserve old buildings and in Dallas, they fight to tear them down to build new shiney and upscale plastic lofts and froo froo establishments to be attended by the popped collar generation. Man, if I lived here, I would ride my bike to the movies! You just cannot get that in Dallas. Oh well. I don’t think I will ever move here, but it is nice to visit. Maybe I’ll look for some close community that will allow me to ride my bike to the coffee shop without getting honked at. I think there are some places in Lakewood or something. All in all, I like the life, friends, ministry etc. in Dallas, I guess it is easy to get caught up in what you don’t or can’t have. BLAH. Enough about that... It’s time to go get some lunch and make our way home. I hope I can stay awake... I am so stiff and sore!

Oh, and please don’t try to call me. My phone is currently under tire somewhere on Mopac. I left it in the tray of my bike rack and Rebecca forgot before pulling onto the highway. Last seen, it was sailing through the air somewhere around the Enfield exit. At any rate, email me or call Becca if you need to get in touch with me. I don’t know when I will be able to replace it. Maybe its a good excuse to get rid of the blackberry!

I'm Back!

2007-10-08T12:50:00.003-05:00

Well, this is like resurrecting an old blog from the dead! For those who have stuck around to check in from time to time, I will briefly try to update you on what in the heck has been going on with me! In short, last October I signed up for the first ever Ironman event to take place in Louisville. I hired a coach and began gleefully, I might add, training. In late January, I made a fatal error in training... I decided to incorporate some mountain biking into the mix, you know, intervals or whatever. It was a good thought... until I hit the ground. To make a long story short, I crashed very hard and injured my wrist. The orthopedist said it was not broken but wanted to do an MRI because of the pain level being so high.

The MRI showed the lunate bone to be very cloudy and I was diagnosed with a rare bone disease called Kienbock's Disease. Basically, the Orthopedic Surgeon said the lunate bone in my wrist was not getting proper circulation because my radius is longer than my ulnar bone and immediate surgery was needed to shorten my radius, insert a plate, and try to revascularize my lunate... yeah, thats what I said. Over the next several months I visited hand specialist and researched the condition all the while thinking something was wrong. Just picture me sitting at my desk tapping away at the keyboard surrounded by twinkie, snowball, and cupcake wrappers. Yeah, I had stopped training. Running with a cast was not fun and trying to ride with one was even less fun. I had to figure out what to do. In my gut, I knew something was off about the diagnosis. I mean, Occam's Razor says that the injury was caused by the mountain bike crash. I continued to search and research nonetheless. I saw 6 hand specialists and found a couple of recurring themes. One: Kienbock's Disease is really rare, Two: No one really knew what to do with it except operate and of all the 4 or 5 options for operation, research showed success rates to be less than 55%. One Doc, who was voted best hand guy in Dallas, said that he had only seen this once in his 38 year career and said, "we can learn together." His suggestion was a cast for 12 to 18 months to see if the bone would restore blood flow on its own. Yeah, a YEAR in a cast... NEXT! I had everything from that to immediate surgery to surgery whenever. The scary thing is that all the orthopedists just wanted to cut, saw and plate. The hand guys were all over the map. Finally, I found a young hand specialist that actually had experience with Kienbock's. His name is Dr. Thomas C. Dilibert. He said that he thought it was related to the mountain bike crash and because the MRI appeared cloudy on the end and not consistently across the bone that it could be a really bad bone bruise, but bottom line, it did not look like Kienbock's and he has seen Kienbock's. He said, sure you are Ulnar Negative, but that doesn't mean Kienbock's. Plenty of people have different size Ulnar and Radius bones and have no problems. So I took his advice and we decided to wait a while and then re-MRI it.

So we waited four months and redid the MRI. Guess what? My gut feeling was right. Everything was okay. The lunate was normal which means it was a bruised bone. We did find some torn and damaged cartilage in my wrist, but that can wait until after Ironman.

That is right, I am back. I have re-upped, signed up for the Louisville Ironman for 2008. So we will try this again! I have been procrastinating in updating this blog for a really long time and now it would take me forever to get all that has happened since I last actively blogged. So bear with me as I get you up to date.

Basically, Coach Phelan has had me running like crazy. I did not ride much after last spring's normal series of rallies. I rode the Dallas/Fort Worth MS 150, well at least the first day of it, then went the next day to win the Benbrook Sprint Tri's Clydesdale division. After that, I raced in a few tris, ran a little, rode a little, and kind of went through the rest of the season with little to show for the little training I had done. In August, we went to Chicago for the Half Marathon. It was my first and a wake up call. My goal was to break 2 hours, but I finished just over at 2:02:46.

Tuesday Track

2007-07-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

"T" is for Tuesday and "Tuesday" is for Track! I have to be honest, at first I hated the track workout... Even though it is HOT and TOUGH, I am beginning to really enjoy the track. For the past 20 years Coach Phelan has been running the Tuesday night track workouts at Hillcrest Highschool. The athletes that show up are the whose who of Dallas runners. I love the comraderie and community of this workout. This night I was a little worried about jumping back onto the track after being sick for a while and just getting my legs back, so Coach took it easy on me. The last time I attended a track workout, I think his goal was to make me puke! Anyway, Becca and I had a great time and everyone is just so friendly! The weather was very hot and humid but all in all it was great!

Here is my workout:

Warmup: 1 Mile easy
Mile: 7:38.09
1000 Meter: 4:50.25
800 Meter: 3:52.33
800 Meter: Sat this one out
400 Meter: 1:42.35
400 Meter: 1:46.79
200 Meters (optional)
200 Meters (optional)
30 minutes on the bike easy spin

Sunday's Long Run

2007-07-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

With the Chicago Half Marathon looming on the calendar, I am really focussing on the run. I would like to get out and ride some longer rides to get back into bike shape, but for now with the way things have gone, the only non-negotiables will be the runs.

Sunday morning my beautiful triathlete wife and I got up to go run around White Rock Lake. I am not sure why, but that run is really special. We arrived a little behind schedule and I knew it would be hot, but I was fired up to be out and running long again. The run began just before 7:00 AM with a quick stretch, I was off. I really felt great. Usually, the first half mile or so is a rough one but today, I felt awesome. As I mentioned in my updates, my training has not been great and I had not had a long run in a while, so 9 miles was looking like the plan. I had ridden the lake a million times and knew the course well. The thought of running it made it seem like much longer. The first half was great. My form was good and I felt strong. At about half way, my iPod died and I hit a section that is uphill for a couple of miles. At that point, my core was losing strength and my form was going out the window. I was also sweating like a mule. The air was very humid and there was nowhere for my sweat to go so it soaked my shorts and legs and ran into my eyes. With about two and a half miles to go I began the internal debate of walking or not or stopping for bit or not. I remembered the time when this distance would have been no problem and was pissed at myself for letting my training go. It was really hard. But I searched my motivation tank and remembered Dean Karnazes talking about one step at a time so I plodded on. Along the way back on the back side of the lake, you can see the parking lot but there are several false horizons and each time I thought I was there, another cove would open up and a long stretch of road filled with cyclists, runners and walkers would appear. I questioned my knowledge of the course over and over. I just fixed my eyes ahead and kept running. At one point I found myself passing several other runners who were drenched in sweat and shuffling. One of them was wearing an Ironman Dryfit shirt so I wanted to make sure I looked good when I passed. This ended up giving me a little lift and a second wind. Before I knew it, I was back at the car. 1 hour 20 minutes and 33 seconds. I felt really good about the run and know this will be a shot in the arm for my training. For the rest of the day, I would be in the best mood and feeling like I am back... just a little back!

TWU Sprint

2007-07-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

After taking three weeks off, I decided there would be no better way to break back into training than to do a little race. Rebecca and I headed up to Denton for the TWU Power Pioneer Triathlon... another Ironhead Race Production Sprint Distance Triathlon (click here for results). The last tri I did was the Saturday before leaving for camp... the Paddle, Pedal, Pound the Pavement Tri in Grapevine, which took place on June 2. That was literally the last time I rode, ran... and I only swam once since then. Coming back from Camp brought chaos to the training schedule and I was just getting ready to get back into the grove then I got sick... and that lasted two weeks! The bad news was that I gave my sore throat, chest congestion, headache, violent cough (Becca says it is loud enough to break glass) and runny nose. She was about a week behind me, but sick still on race day. I feel pretty good and have for the past several days. The only thing that remains is the cough and a voice that sounds like some weird Muppet or Fraggle or something. To add to the chaos and illness, it has also been raining, Noah's Ark -style here for the past, uh, MONTH! Some say that all of the rain is elevating the fungus, mold and mildew in the air, which is causing everyone to get sick... anyway June was not an ideal month for training to say the least!

So we decided to race anyway... just for fun (right!). Coach Phelan thought it would be a great idea for me to do the race as a training race. I think his last instruction was something like, "don't push it..." or something... I don't remember (like I would have listened). I really tried to approach it like that, but there is just something in me that won't let me "take it easy and have fun." Don't get me wrong, I have fun racing... before, a little at the beginning, and at the end, but not so much at the end or in the middle (ouch!). Anyway, we showed up and I began scoping out the competition. I didn't see some of the usuals so I started getting excited. Somewhere in my mind I was gonna shred the bike course and raise some serious eyebrows! Well that did not happen! I realized that it wasn't going to happen exactly at the time when I turned around on the bike course. I had a GREAT swim, relaxed and fast. I passed the gal in front of me on the third 25. My time was 5:07 for the 300 Meters. The run from the pool to T1 was about 200 meters and is zapped me a little. But a quick transition and onto the bike and I was flying. the course was rolling to flat and the first half I was really moving. I was averaging around 25, but at times the speeds were in the 30s. With about a mile to the turn around, I noticed a flag in someone's front yard. It was Old Glory, flapping, I mean Standing straight out. I caught a glimpse of it as I wiped my chin on my shoulder... you see, I had to catch it in passing from the side because I would never see a flag head on that was blowing DIRECTLY AT ME! My heart sank a bit as I knew what was coming. I kept cranking, trying to put as much into the bank as I could. It wasn't a mile later that the turn around came. I slowed, swung a knee out and turned slowly -- BAM! There it was... the wind. It was right on the nose and to make matters worse, it was up hill all the way back (or so it seemed!). My legs felt like they were filled with sand. The only positive thought I could muster was that I wasn't cramping and this wouldn't last forever! I began to feel the effects of no training... and I was not surprised... as if I were the BK and I could just do this thing on raw talent!

I finished the bike leg and began making my way through the transition area. My heart rate was at the redline and I was having difficulty breathing. This is probably due to all the coughing and chest congestion over the past several weeks. On the way to the race, I had a coughing fit, so I grabbed a Mucinex CF and downed it trying anything to get it under control. Mucinex, by the way is awesome... The CF must stand for Create Freakingtonsofphlegm... I was a phlegm factory the entire race. At first I was coughing it up then it started flowing from my nose. I started off with the politely -directioned snot rocket, but by the end I was just blowing it out both nostrils in all directions. At this point, I didn't care, I was dying. My run into the transition slowed to a trot then I walked to the rack as I realized my hopes of having a good run were gone with last week's training schedule. So I took my time and tried to get things calmed down. On with the shoes and visor, flipped the number around and I started running. Only one word came to mind... it starts with and F and ends with UCK (Firetruck ;) I was in serious pain, but I kept moving with one thought in mind... keep moving forward and don't stop! The run course was a two-looper. I hate two-loopers because the whole first lap I am thinking to myself, "i've got to do this again!" I knew I was running slow, but I didn't care. All of that testosterone filled garbage of winning was gone and now all I wanted to do was finish. The run course was longer that 5K but I am not sure how munch. I ended up running 9:30 per mile pace, which is far slower that the previous race's 7:30's. Again, I didn't care. I turned my mind to singing praise songs and began praying for the race to be over! Once I finished, I sat for a while and gathered my thoughts and composure. I knew I had been stupid for thinking I could win with no training. I took myself to a place of just being happy to be there and being able to race. Once they posted the first round of unofficial results, I cheered up even more... I found that even though my run time was about 5 minutes slower than it should have been, I would still end up with hardware. I won second in Clydesdale and would have placed 4th in age group, overall, I was 35 out of 220. It motivates me to get back out there and train. With excellent coaching and a little work, I will be right back up there!

Major Bigtime Update

2007-07-08T20:46:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks... I know there are a bunch of you that have been sort of tracking and rooting for me on my journey to Ironman. So I wanted to issue a public apology for going in and out of hiding! I have been on again off again and really struggling for motivation. This will be a HUGE entry, so stick with me... In the back of my mind I know and have known for a while that IMKY is out for me. I have just missed too much training. I feel like I have gone back to square one on the bike. I have been training and racing local sprints but I don't have a big tri on the calendar just yet. The Morganator and I have been discussing the options for what Ironman to do and when. We got really close to signing up for Germany but the real motivator for me is that I do not want to wait that long to to this thing! My wrist is still not 100% so I am not sure what to do there. If anyone knows a good hand doctor in Dallas, I could use a 7th opinion. At this point, I am not sure what to think, you would think that it if was trauma and not Kienbock's Disease, it would have healed by now. Anyway, its not that bad, just nagging so I will let it ride for now.

For a while in late May, I had worked my run back up and was really cranking out the miles. I had a really big race on the calendar and was trained up, peaking and ready to roll! Memorial Day weekend, we (and 4,000 others) stood in the rain and ankle deep water waiting for the race officials to call off the race... they did and it hurt me. I was really pumped up and the cancellation was a huge let down. The next week, my motivation waned. Becca and I were getting ready to leave for a week in Colorado to take a group of highschoolers to Young Life Camp in Fraser, CO. I knew that I would not have any time or energy to run while there. In a last minute effort to keep the train rolling, I booked myself for the Paddle, Pedal, Pount the Pavement Tri in Grapevine the Saturday Morning before we were to board the bus for the 14 hour trip. There are alot of ways to ensure sleep on the bus and this is probably not the best... the muscle spasms were horrible in the cramped bus seats. Anyway, I showed up to the race and had low expectations. My Coach, Chris Phelan, was there vying for the cash prize to be given... These local money races pull the fast guys out of the woodwork. I was glad Chris was there, I really wanted to do well for him. To make a long story shorter, I had a fabulous race! I PR'd my run and finshed 11th overall. Click Here for the splits I felt really good about the run but knew that the bike needed some work... if I had only been keeping with it, I could have flown! My legs felt dead and I knew it was from the brutal fact that I have not been riding at all. Cycling has always been my stregth and I think I have taken it for granted. My cycling partner Norm is addicted to MTB and Stephen moved away, and the Morganator is away for the summer so my only hope for cycling looks lonely. I have to get over this and get back out there! Anyway, we went to camp and had an amazing time (read all about it at www.darrendurrett.com) When we got back I took a day off to catch up on rest lost on the bus ride home. This extended into a bonus day then one more just to make sure... all of a sudden the entire week went by and I was working till late and trying to keep up with the three days a week of camp follow up. The next weekend came and Becca and I both buckled down and vowed to get back into the grove. Then the rain came. Then came the cold (sick). The cold moved to a sore throat, then to my head, down to my chest and then I was coughing -- violently. This mystery illness would hang on for two weeks, zapping my energy and ablility to train. It was aweful. To make matters worse, it rained for something like 22 straight days. It seemed that all would be lost.

Riding or Hiding?

2007-05-30T22:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I have been hiding... My coach always says, you are either riding or hiding... and I have been hiding! I have had a major setback and have been dealing with some major frustration and confusion around an injury.

Back in February, I took a bad spill on my mountain bike. The result was a badly injured wrist. After a battery of x-rays and MRI's, the orthopedic surgeon came back to me with the diagnosis of an extremely rare degenerative bone disease of the hand called Kienbock's Disease. I was really floored by this finding. The ortho wanted to operate with major surgery right away. I opted for a second option! The second doctor is an old school guy that is really well known and respected. He said that he has only seen one case like this in all his practice (since 1968) and wasn't sure what to do. He definitely wanted to take a conservative approach... this was evident by his prescription of treatment, which was a cast for 9 to 12 months. NO THANK YOU! So I went to another doctor... the third doctor concluded that is was bone trauma and torn cartilage that could be remedied by a cortisone shot. That sounded good, so I went with it. That was a month ago and as I write this, I cringe when I have to reach for the "Y" key with my right hand. It is still pretty painful. I am not sure what to believe. The third and second doctors claim that orthopedic surgeons just want to cut at every chance they get to make more money. If that is true, then I am really worried about all of the unnecessary surgeries that must take place every day. I mean, I was hours away from having 3MM of my radius removed! I think my wrist has gotten better, so I will just proceed with caution. Needless to say, this put me way back in my training. The psychological hit was huge. It is something that I really wrestled with. I did learn one thing though, casts are not as easy to remove as you would think! It took mean hour with a crow-bar, hack saw and tin snips... no lie!

As for Ironman, I am not sure what I am going to do at this point. I could probably finish it and it will probably be really hard, or I can sit out a year and it will be the same. Bottom line is that I need to make a decision soon. I lost over a month of training and motivation... it has been tough. Luckily, I have a very good coach and a strong support base that will continue to support me no matter what I decide to do.

I have been back on track now for about a month and training hard. For now, I will keep training and racing. In fact I am racing in Grapevine this weekend if anyone wants to come watch. I will be racing age group so it should be interesting. Based on last year's times I should have a shot at an age group win if I can sub 1:10:00 the 300 yard swim, 20k bike and 6k run. I am shooting for a 4:40 swim, 35 Min bike and a 30 min 6K... that equals 1:10. It will all depend on who shows up! Wish me luck!

2007-03-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

Oh wow! Time flies when you're not having fun... I have been meaning to blog about so many things but keep putting it off until I "have time." Well, here I am with a little sliver of time and all I have to offer is a data dump of the past couple a week's workouts...

Monday 3-12-07: 3 mile run (missed the swim)

Tuesday 3-13-07: 4 mile run and Form Drills with coach at the track

Wednesday 3-14-07: Lunch appointment kept me out of the pool and I ran out of gas in Ft. Worth... with my Boss in the Car, by the way... needless to say, I missed the Wed. bike ride. This will be blogged about someday soon.

Thursday 3-15-07: 3 mile run (had a time crunch...)

Friday: Off (not that I deserved it this week)

Saturday: 64 Mile Bike Ride (Beauty and the Beast in Tyler) 3:03:01. Can't wait to blog about this one... Great ride but got MULED on the Beast (the big hill). The pack split and I ended up with the second group. Great ride though.

Sunday 3-18-07: 6 Mile Run. Having some issues with shoe change, cannot wait for my new orthotics... will give that update as well later when I have more elusive time...

Monday 3-19-07: 3 mile maintenance run. A little stiff and some lingering pains from the shoe change. Missed the swim again due to YL club. need to figure out the nooner swim.

Tuesday 3-20-07: 3 Mile Run and 3000 Meter Swim. Great swim! My sister is in town on her spring break and she swam with us. She was a Varsity swimmer in High school so it was fun swimming with a pro!

And now it is Wednesday the 21st... Getting ready to go ride and swim.

There, I feel better. Sorry for the boring post, but at least I have logged everything. I hope to get some additional time to tell all the funny stories that go with that week! See ya down the road!

2007-03-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

Sunday is my long run. Today (Sunday) I ran 7 miles, a distance that I have only run twice in my life. I decided to take out my orthotics due to some lower leg pains. It was a slow run but a great one. The pain I was experiencing went away but unfortunately just relocated to some new areas including my right knee. Monday I have an appointment with a well known runner and foot doctor to get a second opinion on my orthotics. I will keep you posted.

2007-03-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

What a great weekend! I had a really good weekend of working out and recharging. Saturday just about wiped me out, but it was just awesome! Coach Phelan suggested that I meet him at the Landry Center for a Dallas Aquatic Masters swim before riding the bike store ride at Richardson Bike Mart. I was a little nervous to commit, but went for it. Until now, I have been a little unsure of my abilities and fitness level. I am not sure if coach was checking for a baseline or what... he just keeps pounding his fists saying, "VOLUME!" So Saturday morning I put on my suit, loaded the bike, packed some snacks, stopped at a Starbucks for a MEDIUM coffee and headed downtown. Coach and I arrived early so we had some quality time to rap about training, life and the things we all enjoy.

I entered the pool area and began the search for swim toys that would work for me. I purposefully left my gear in the truck knowing it would be provided. After a minute buried in the flipper bin, I began to regret my decision. Whoever is in charge there has something against size 12 flippers. There were some ambiguously labeled "9-11," plain "10" and "13-14." Just no "12." I guessed low and went with the "9-11" option... I should have known! That is a big range and reality meant 11 was stretching it and getting it on my size 12 mallet would be even less of a reality. When the kick set came, i found myself clinching my toes with foot cramps just trying to keep them on. They were stretched so tight, I could just see one flinging off and into another lane! Ugh. Anyway, after selecting the junk I needed I began my final approach to the pool. I was a little nervous about the lane I would select for my first group swim since age 18.

As I approached the pool with a nervous grin, arms full of swim implements, fully aware of myself, I scanned for anything familiar. My eyes and grin met the lady holding the clip board. I began a nervous ramble of information that would assumably help her determine the best lane for me but was interrupted with an "I know... take lane three there." My eyes followed her arm down to an outstretched finger pointing to a 25 meter piece of real estate churning with accomplished swimmers.

"Lane three?" I said to myself, "thanks a lot coach!" I quickly realized that I had seriously oversold my swimming abilities... to someone (DAVID!), or they were inflated beyond reality... The workout went exactly as I expected... I went our too fast and blew up about half way through. I was so self conscious that I stopped doing flip turns after blowing one and snorting half the pool through my nose. Coach and the Morganator kept saying things to me between sets... my head was pounding with the sound of my heart beat and I could not hear any of it. I just smiled and nodded. When I did speak, my voice crackled and was hoarse. I finally sat out a 50 and clung to the wall only to have Mrs. Clipboard look down and laugh at me with her hands on her hips (one still clinching the clipboard) saying, "we call that a masters moment. At this point I had lost count of the laps and distance... I was just trying to finish. With one set left I began thinking and quickly remembered that I had a 45 mile bike ride after this! About that time, BAM! My right calf locked up in the most unholy Charley horse ever. Luckily it was the last set and I was done. I had a hard time scaling the edge of the pool due to the workout. It ended up being about 3000 meters, give or take a 50. I was nervous about being able to hang on the bike.

I showered, put on the bibs and hopped in the car, making way to the bike store. The whole way I was pounding gu, cliff bars and various fruit. I giggled once with a mouth fool of banana thinking about how bad my gas would be later...

The really amazing thing is that the swim did not really affect my bike ride. I felt great! I could tell that my right calf was tight but after a few miles it losened up enough to let me keep with the pack. I tried to stay tucked in, well at least as well as an 6 foot 1 225 fat boy can. It was a little nerve wracking at first riding very tight and fast in the pack. We were on the 9:05 ride, which is notoriously fast. The pace was 25 to 27. I hung in well. They almost lost me at highschool hill, but I made it and was able to recover quickly enough to tuck back in. The ride was going great and I was feeling strong and no sign of slowing. Then: "pssssssssssssssss!" A flat! I flatted with about 15 miles left. Luckily, Gary from the Bike Mart stopped and had an extra tube. I was telling coach as we were about a mile into the ride that I had forgotten my flat kit. It never fails! The ride back with Gary was good, we visited about various new bike parts, wheels and life. We rode slowly but I still ended up with a 21 average.

It was a great day and a great workout! I love the way I am feeling and the fitness that I am achieving!

2007-03-09T07:26:00.000-06:00

What a week! There were a lot of changes for me this week, but I made it! The crazy work week ended last night with a company happy hour. The happy hour turned into a come to Jesus meeting... everyone became very open about their frustrations after round 5 of cocktails. I was the only one not drinking, so unfortunately, I will probably be the only one that remembers it! Oh well, it was long overdue... I just hope some things change for the better as a result.

Wednesday night I took much of the week's frustration out on the bike. I rode the Irving Criterium. Since I turned my Cervelo into a fulltime tri bike, I have been riding my Steel (853) Lemond. I love that bike but was intimidated at first glance around the pack... my Lemond was the cheapest bike in the bunch by about $1,000. Everyone there was on Colnago, Kelley, Orbea, Seven, or something really high end... I could tell right away that I was in elite company. The ride itself reminded me of racing as a kid. It was such a blast to jockey for position in the line, play cat and mouse, chase attackers... the whole bit. I felt great! The speeds were high, around 27 to 29 on the straights. My ego had a huge boost when I found myself in the lead group or chase group with plenty of gas to spare. I countered one attack and overtook the attacker on one lap and stayed off for a lap and a half. It was awesome. When I attacked, my speed was 32 and nobody was on my wheel. I LOVE that stuff! Especially being as fat as I am on a cruddy bike! It made me want to start road racing again... but I will forget about all of that and stick to the plan. My performance that night made me feel good about my fitness, although it was a short hour and a half crit. We will see how I do at distance this weekend!

The rest of the week was pretty good. I managed to fit in all my workouts except one swim yesterday. I ran 4 miles last night and felt pretty good. I am going Monday to have a second opinion on my orthotics. I am having some right knee pain and some pain on the inside of my left ankle. I never had these before getting orthotics, so I am not sure what is up. The shinns are not as sore. I could feel my right one every now and again flare up in the run, but not too bad. I hope it is just my body adapting.

I am feeling a little better today: Sleep 8hrs, Stress 5, Fatigue 3, Soreness 5.

I have also begun to realize some of my hard work in the weight department. It seems that overnight I have dropped from 230 to 226. I weighed in at 226 the last two mornings. This really motivates me!

2007-03-06T08:40:00.000-06:00

Good Morning! Well, again, I made it up this morning for a little workout. Becca got in late last night after the Justin Timberlake Concert (no big loss that I missed that one!) and woke me up around Midnight. I was just asleep when the dogs started barking... I had a long hard day of a Sales Blitz and then Young Life Club with 6 High School kids in the car blasting Hip Hop as loud as my GM/BOSE speakers would go on the way to a beach party themed club! Needless to say, it was a taxing day yesterday and this morning came VERY fast. I did it though! I got out of bed and headed to the pool. This morning was a hodge-podge workout... I forgot my workout cheetsheet card in my sleepy state. So I did some pulls, kicks, fist drills, and breathing drills. All in it was a solid 2000 Meters.

As I swam and began to take notice of my mental and physical state to be recorded in my log, I noticed the ranking system was a little high: Sleep 6, Stress 9, Fatigue 8, Soreness 8. And I have only really started ramping up. Until now, it has been sort of whatever, swim as much as I can, Ride allot and run some. Then I started thinking about my week and past weekend so far... Saturday: Booked, Sunday: Full, Monday: Crazy then Young Life Club, Tuesday: Crazy Sales Blitz again then Young Life Committee Meeting... It kinda hit me: THIS IS GOING TO BE HARD! I am a little discouraged this morning. I am sore, tired and stressed and just getting going... I am hoping that work will calm down a little and maybe that will help. Until then, it will be a wild ride until Saturday!

2007-03-05T06:42:00.000-06:00

Success! We, it is Monday morning and I am sitting here finishing a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee... the good news is, I just finished my run! I have successfully gotten up early to train! This may not sound like a big deal to you but for some reason over the past couple of years I have become a night owl. I used to enjoy getting up early and being the first to work. I am not sure what happened to me. Anyway, as part of the new serious me, I bounced out of the sack promptly at 5:30am.

Piper (my Golden) and I ran an easy 3 miles this morning, or what my coach calls a "maintenance" run. Not sure how it is maintenance, but I am sure there are many things I don't know about being an elite athlete (not that I will ever be, but who knows). The run was okay this morning. I was a little sore from this weekend, but not bad. I am hoping that the extra exercise will keep Piper from destroying another pillow while we are gone during the day.

Training this weekend was okay. I did not get a good quality long run in like I had hoped. I did get a longish run in, but the weekend did not pan out the way I wanted. I had planned to do my long ride on Saturday and long run on Sunday. I waited around for a buddy to ride but something came up and he had to bail. It was a horendously windy day on Saturday, so I decided to swap the run and ride long on Sunday, which was supposed to be nicer. I wanted to go somewhere and run due to being sick of the same old neighborhood route, so I hopped in the car and set out to a nearby park with a 3 mile path. All was going well until the tire went flat. It was mid afternoon Saturday and just one of those things that would not be quick but it had to be fixed. By the time I got it fixed, it was getting close to time to meet some friends for dinner so I opted for a short neighborhood run (3 Miles). Coach P's voice in my head said "volume... do antything... something." So I did.

On Sunday, I agreed to lead a training ride for Wachovia's MS 150 Bicycle Tour Team. I am team captain and organizing a 30 rider team to raise money to fight MS. As part of my duties, I lead a training ride. These are usually really slow, so I don't count them as training. Anyway, Becca was going to go with me, but following her crash Friday, she was out. I decided to take the opportunity to make it into a long ride. I rode from my house to White Rock Lake and met my group. We did two loops around the lake and then I rode home. The first loop was painfully slow, the second a little faster and the ride home was brutal fast into a 15 to 20 mph headwind. All in all, it was a good ride. I ended up with 55 miles and a 17 average despite the 12 to 13 first lap and 15 to 16 second.

I am really fired up about getting up this morning... I guess it is the little things. This week at work will be horrible and stressful. I hope the morning workouts will squelch that stress a little. Have a great day, thanks for reading.

2007-03-03T17:25:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe I have not been able to update this for the past two weeks! The Man (work) has really turned up the heat. It is really silly how much crap is being forced down to the rank and file. Well, enough about that... Now for the latest news:

I have hired a coach! I have decided that trying to sort thought the volumes of Friel , Fitzgerald and the like to develop a plan is just not my strength, especially when trying to be a top producer at work, keep up our ministry, train for an Ironman and maintain my sanity! I am really excited about the opportunity and direction that I will and am receiving. We met Thursday and have begun the process of developing me into a runner and hopefully Ironman! It is already challenging and motivating me to make some different decisions and lifestyle changes. Coming soon, be sure to look out for Darren v223.21030, which includes the new early morning workout patch/update. It is being tested in Beta at the moment and still having some technical difficulties, but stay tuned for the release... hopefully it will be more successful than the Vista launch.

Anyway, forget about the past few weeks... I will fill in the data when I have time. I have been training in all disciplines, just not with any focus or direction. Today , I find myself a bit grounded with the onset of a severe cold. I really hope to nip it in the bud as I cannot afford to be sick right now. Next week at work will be one of the most demanding as I embark on a week long blitz (not my choice). We'll see how it goes... who knows, it may give me a chance to catch up on the blog data... although, I can honestly say, I would rather be behind on my blog and out on the road then sick on the sofa!

2007-02-16T07:15:00.000-06:00

Well, Wednesday saw no workout due to the marketing ploy that is Valentine's day. We hung out instead.

Yesterday morning's run was squelched by record cold temperatures. We ended up running to the gym, doing circuit trainin, then running home. Alltold, we ran about 4.5 miles. It was miserable cold. My faith continues to wane in my orthotics... I am having some blistering and pain issues. Do these things really work? They were great at first and are now giving me fits. Maybe I need a second opinion.

I can't wait for the weather to turn normal or at least warm. I hate this cold and rainy crud. Becca and I are racing in a duathlon this weekend. I am so out of shape it isn't even funny. Maybe we make this a fun one.

2007-02-14T06:59:00.000-06:00

Finished yesterday with a 2000 meter swim with pro triathlete David Morgan. It was an awesome and fun workout... challenging but fun. I love swimming with outher people.

Observation: the 24 hour fitness pool in Mesquite, Texas = NASTY. The highlight was the bonus item bandaid laying face up in the middle of the lane! I think I have been spoiled by the greatness of the Landry Center.

This morning we did not get up. We had a Young Life Committee meeting last night that put us home late. Additionally, it was 26 degress when I woke up... NO WAY!

2007-02-13T07:28:00.000-06:00

Well, so much for consistency... in posting anyway... I have been active but just have not had time to keep up with my log or observations of training. In fact, I just finished a run this morning and feel a little guilty of doing this instead of spending time in the word. Oh well, Jesus knows I love him.

Here are the runs so far for Feb: (All are very slow for building base and breaking in my gimp foot)
- 2 miler on the 2nd (short of time apparently) 18 min
- 5K 30 min on the 5th
- 3 miler alone morning run 25:40 (8:33 pace felt great)
- 5k Race with Becca. Chose to run with her the whole race. We had a blast running this together not worrying about the time. It was 32 min.
- This morning we got up and ran 30 min in the neighborhood.

We finally got up together to start the workout. It did not happen without some debate and motivating comments. I hope we can keep this trend up. It was very cold and windy this morning and not the kind of morning you want to get up and begin a routine on. I am feeling pretty good in the run. The only negative is that I am losing faith in my orthotics. They are really bothering me and especially my right foot. The heal rubs funny and is starting a blister. I am going to give them to the end of Feb and go back to get them adjusted. I thought about scrapping them but afterall the stability did end the clicking in my gimp foot, so they must be doing something right.

Another observation... I am not losing weight like I normally do. I know this is due to the lack of proper eating. The years of crash dieting and salad eating have burned my desire to eat healthy. I wish I had not worn myself out on salads so much. My focus to eat right keeps getting put off for some reason. I will work on that next week.

2007-01-31T08:02:00.000-06:00

Ran 40 Min last night. Not the most comfortable run. My feet are bothering me a little with the orthotics. I hope I am just breaking in. I hope that these issues work themselves out before too long. Other than that I felt great.

Following the run Becca and I went to the pool ans swam 2000. It was a really boring workout. I found myself wanting to cheat and quit. I wish we had a longer pool... the kick turns are wearing me out... I hate getting water in my nose, especially with a headcold.

Still have not lost any lbs... I am getting a bit discouraged at this... it seems like the weight came off faster in the past. For the amount of work I am doing, I would have thought to see some results by now. I guess I'll just keep pressing. I really wish it would stop raining and being cold so I could ride!

Sorry for the boring entry... just wanted to get it on the log. Have a great day!

2007-01-29T08:22:00.000-06:00

Ended up finishing the week strong. Friday, I went with a ride with the Bishop, Phat Daddy, Phil and Carl (hot). The pace was good but the company was best. I really enjoyed this one. We rode 28 at 16mph.

Saturday, Becca and I ran 40 minutes and went the pool to swim. I only ended up with a 1500 swim because we were running late. The highlight of the weekend was the Young Life Committee retreat. I hope to blog about this event a little more on my other blog, so look for it later. We did not run or do anything Sunday. I felt like crap Sunday and took a much needed 4 hour nap, ate dinner and went back to sleep. I feel better today. Today is the first morning I have not had a headache upon waking up. I was a little depressed this morning for some odd reason... think it might be the Devil. I know for sure he did not like the events that took place in favor of Christ's kingdom on the retreat. We have Young Life Club tonight (first of the semester) so there will be no training.

2007-01-24T21:37:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I skipped the workout yesterday... Worked late and came home deflated. Oh well. Today was better. We started off the day with another feeble attempt to get up in the morning. Again, we slept in. For me it was the ole snooz-a-roonie routine for an hour (6 minutes at a time)and a startling surprise to see the clock say 6:45... especially when I had a 7:30 appointment. So I started the day in a mad rush and it never slowed down. Back to back appointments and fire drills until I got home at 6:30. The good news is that we promptly went for a run upon my arrival. It was great! Becca left her ipod at work so we got to talk while we ran. It was actually quite nice to visit and catch up free from the distraction of the computer, TV, Dogs, ringing phones, etc... It was probably one of the more fun runs on record. We ran 35 minutes. The distance is unknown and frankly unimportant. The pace was slow and comfy.

Following the run, we went to 24 for a swim-a-rooskie. Here is the breakdown:
- 300M Warmup
- 10 x 50 Kick alternating fast and slow with 15 sec rest
- 200M easy freestyle
- 10 x 50 Pull drill with paddles with 15 sec rest
- 2 x 100 sprints 30 sec rest between
- 300M cool down

The swim was great. I tried to quit after the sprints but Becca made me finish. I am glad she made me tho. The pool was super crowded tonight. There was only one other person in the there that could swim more than a 25 without stopping. I first noticed him on my last set of pulls. We finished at the same time. He was a huge guy, pretty cut and spoke with what I thought was a Russian accent. In the locker room he struck up a conversation about my new TYR swim bag. He then begins grilling me about what I am training for... he was basically begging me to ask him the same. I was on to him from the start so I decided to refrain as an experiment. I listened and answered his questions but remained completely self absorbed... I asked him nothing. He could not stand it and eventually began spilling. Turns out that he is also training for a triathlon... an Olympic. But he has done a half before. He runs 6:45 miles in the half and does not like the bike. He is thinking of getting a new bike this season but is not sure. He swims 1,500 everyday and runs on the treadmill in the afternoons. Today he missed his usual 5:00 so was in here tonight to swim his 1,500. I am thinking... "is this guy for real?" He began spilling his life story basically. Then I started to see myself... I have done this before... mainly out of insecurity, but I have. It was entertaining at the least. I mean he was only in the pool for my last 700. Before I left, I introduced myself as me and he shook my hand and introduced himself as Juan. I was amused and smiled to myself as I shouldered my new bag and exited the locker room. I met Rebecca in the lobby and launched into the tale of the Juan the Russian triathlete. That made me giggle a little. I am excited to do the Ironman and want so bad to have the distinction, but if I ever get like Juan, someone please slap my fatass!

2007-01-23T07:33:00.000-06:00

First of all, I would like to issue an apology to the Bishop... When I said I called all of my cycling buddies buddies, I did not mean my Mountain Bike Buddies. I was notified that the great Bishop has roadie tendancies so I will be releasing a new version of known cycling buddy list v2.1.30. Sorry Bro!

Training on Monday is always difficult for me... Becca and I planned to get up early and hit the pool. We found ourselves in a groggy converstion at about 5:00AM justifying why that was not a good idea. So we skipped it and replaced the workout with idle promises of making it up. We did, however, make the run after work. We ran a little short on tim, but did manage to work in a short 2 miler (better than nothing!). Following that we had our first leader meeting for Young Life this year (which I am really fired up about this year). Following the meeting, we all met to watch the awesomeness of Jack Bauer and 24. I heard that Jack Bauer counted to infinity.... TWICE! Oh and he can also divide by zero... and when Jack Bauer gets into the water, he does not get wet... the water gets Jack Bauered instead.

Anyway, this morning Becca and I successfully talked ourselves into not going to the gym. We just got home too late and we can just go the gym tonight, no reason not to grab a few more z's... By the way, this has to stop! I have to figure out a way to get up in the morning!

2007-01-21T17:39:00.000-06:00

Well, thanks for hanging in there waiting for a report. The sad thing is that there has been nothing to report for some time. We have had rain, ice and sleet falling for the past 9 days. I was able to squeeze a 1000 meter swim and 5K run in on Thursday night (slow 31:33). Other than that, just been trapped inside and unmotivated.

Saturday, Becca and I braved the 33 degree temp and rain to run in the too cold to hold 5K at White Rock Lake. After being a couch spud all week, this run hurt me. I managed to throw down a 27:24 5K, pretty good for me, but not setting the world on fire. I had some left leg/ankle/foot pain issues in the run. I think this kind of strain is too much too soon. I will regress back to slow slow and steady and continue to build base.

Today the sun came out for the first time in a while. It was absolutely beautiful outside. The only negative was a little north wind. I called all of my known riding buddies to arrange a ride, but they all crapped out and had other "important" things to do... Oh well, I went anyway and rode 25 miles to the lake and back averaging just under 17mph. Going out, my average was 20.7mph, but that darn north headwind made coming home suck.

Hopefully the weather will hold up and I can get back on track with everything. It is still early, so I am not worried. The main thing that I really want to accomplish in January is to loose some lbs! If I can make the necessary diet changes, that should be no problem. I am up a few pounds for some reason at 233. My goal is to drop 30 by August! Thanks for reading.

2007-01-12T00:06:00.000-06:00

Well, today was not a very fun day at work... it was bitter sweet... I won a deal and lost a deal, so I guess I broke even. Anyway, it was hard to come home and get motivated to workout after receiving a beating all day. I got home at 7:30 and headed to the gym for a swim. I did some leg weights tonight. I doubled up on the left/weak side. I did the whole stack on a calf extension a few extra times to try to get my left foot up to par. It is definitely weaker and less stable or controllable. Who knows if it will help, but what the heck? It is supposed to get cold and rain this weekend so I am a little bummed out... hopefully I will be able to get a ride in. Anyway, tonight I felt like crap in the pool. You know, like a turd floating slowly in the waves... yuck. I swam 1600. It was shy of my 2000 mark, but the events of the day weighed me down too much. I need to get one of those water proof mp3 players or something. It was a hard swim, but mostly I think I am tired. Not my best day... lets just hope there will be few of these going forward. I think I am going to go to bed and start over tomorrow. I had some good therapy in a few PBRs and working on my bike in the garage... I think that always helps!

2007-01-10T22:16:00.000-06:00

The thing I like about Norm is that he can fix just about anything... he reminds me of Macgyver... he even has one of those swiss army knives. I have seen him poke and pry with the cork screw to fix a variety of problems. The other thing I like about him is that his fixes usually include duct tape and/or rubber bands. Last night, we were out at Arbor Hills for the Tuesday night single speed ride. Things were going well for me until the pin on my chain tensioner broke on an uphill section of the trail. I was just out of the saddle and the event sent me sprawling to the ground. I hit my jaw on the handlebar on the way down... I think it knocked me silly because it took me a second to compose myself and get to my feet. I thought my ride was over, but not so with super Norm! It was as if he already knew what to do... he could not fix my new aching head and jaw, but he sure enough fixed the chain tensioner... with a couple of rubber bands. Of course, the rubber bands were cut from recycled inner tubes. He always seems to have a few in his pocket. In fact, there are several employed at any given moment , holding lights, wires and of course chain tensioners. He is genious! I even saw him repair a broken chain with his bare hands... simply amazing!

Okay, so last night:
7 mile single speed ride, about 45 minutes. Not the best workout, but allot of fun! It was a little muddy and cold tonight. The crash was a ittle painful but I'll live! I have a nice baseball sized bruise on my hip that Stephen says looks like a nebula from some far away galaxy... I had no idea a bruise could have so many shades of purple, blue and red! I missed my swim workout due to having to work late... Oh well, that is just one missed swim this week!

Tonight:
5K run, 32:57:17... ran slow tonight. Becca kicked my ass, I was a little winded. I followed the run with a 20 mile bike ride. Got some new speedplay pedals, so I just had to try them out. Averaged 15. The wind was 21 out of the south with 30 mph gusts going out. Comming home was a blast... be stayed around 22 and sometimes 25+ with the tail wind. Great ride!

I am getting some slack about my cycling. I will say that I am adding some cycling workouts to gain fitness and lose weight. For the record, Becca (and David) I have not missed a run workout and I have only missed one swim.

I am excited about my pedals. I hope the added float from the speedplays will save me from injury and run pain.

2007-01-05T07:49:00.000-06:00

Training update:

This week was a little light on training. It was a short week though. The important thing is that I AM training!!! I am a lean 230, but training!

This will be somewhat of a bulk entry so forgive me for the lack of commentary. Also, just for the record, I have not been totally inactive since my last training entry. My weeks have included a few weight workouts, treadmill runs and at least 30 miles a week of mountain biking, which consists of a Tuesday night single speed ride and Saturday mornings at Grapevine's North Shore. My wife keeps reminding me that the time has come to hang up the Mountain bike and get down the roadie... She's right. It has been something I have been dreading. Mountain biking and my new love of single speeding is just so so much fun. Oh well... they are just two on a long list of sacrifices I will have to make to get to that finish line in Louisville. It is funny how much ironman is on my mind. Just tonight , I meditated on it while running -- visualizing myself and wondering how I will feel coming out of T2. Also in the pool tonight, I wondered if I would be smooth and fast, having good form in the race following the countless meters I will have to swim between now and August... or will it be like the near death and drowning experience I had in McKinney? (See Archives) One thing is certain: I will be a much different person, athlete, employee, etc. once I get there. I find myself looking at the more philosophical aspects of Ironman, knowing and hoping that it will be the journey that will be the most beneficial and no so much the pinnacle that is the race. The race is just there so I can earn the tattoo, right?

Anyway, here's the summary for 2007 thus far:
Workout 1: 1/2/2007 - Single Speed Mountain Bike Ride at Grapevine, at night (Hard Core Baby!) 12 Miles, cold as hell, felt GREAT! One hour and twenty-ish minutes.

Workout 2: 1/3/2007 - Little Easy Swim Brick: 800 Meters (ran short of time) followed by a quick 10 miler on the road bike. Yes, the road bike... I have decided to ride the LeMond Steel this early season until I can get some new aero bars and a proper fit.

Workout 3: 1/4/2007 - 3 mile run, 28:12, 9:20/mile pace - felt okay, orthos felt good, no foot, leg or hip trouble... even though I am 30 lbs overweight.

Workout 4: 1/5/2007 - 30 Miles on the road bike 2:04:32. Slow night ride to White Rock Lake via Meandering Way with hills. The trail had some washout mud and was slick so we tried an alternate route home, which ended up taking us through the ghetto on busy roads at night... not too bright, but an adventure nonetheless!

Workout 5: 1/7/2007 - Sunday Super Brick! Missed Saturday's ride due to a late night at Carson's Live on Friday... Becca just had to go dancing... Anyway Stephen and I did a loop around the lake trying to beat a cold front that was supposed to be hitting... we rode out to White Rock only to have the front show up early... The ride back north and home was miserable with 30mph gusts. Yuck! Anyway 30 miles, 1:50:31. This was followed promptly by a 3 mile run (Brick) 31:24 (slow). Felt great, just a little sore in the aductor region and left hammy.

Workout 6 (today): 1/8/2007 - 3 Mile run with Becca. Felt great! 28:04 (Becca's getting fast!) Followed by a swim. Only did 1500 meters tonight. Started off focusing on form and staying relaxed and long. First set was a 1000... just felt great to be in the water. Finished with 200x2 fast and a 100 swim down.

Feeling good about everything to this point. I will be really working hard on building some core strength over the next several months. Hopefully the lbs will start coming off soon... thanks for reading!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2006-12-27T08:16:00.000-06:00

Hello? Is this thing on? Well, as you can see, I have been very busy. Not busy in a good way, but busy working, getting fat and going in the opposite direction of ironman. I want to start by saying, to you, my friends... sorry. Sorry for not returning phone calls, emails, etc. The last month leading up to Christmas was one of the most intense and stressful months of work I have ever experienced. Hopefully, it is over for a while!

Anyway, on to business. I have not updated this in a while, but I want you all to know that I have been doing some sparse activity. Mostly just running here and there and mountain biking twice a week. ...you know, the old "I'll start Monday" thing.

Here it is, a new year... 2007! This is the year for my ironman. Training starts today. Time to quit fooling around! All the preparations have been made, equipment purchased, books read, now time for execution. GAME ON!

2006-11-28T19:59:00.000-06:00

YAY I LOVE RUNNING AGAIN!

Today, yes today, after a long long wait, I finally got my full length rigid orthotics!!!!!! Doc said to ease into them for a few days, but I just could not wait to get it on and run. I am not sure if it is the emporer's new clothes, but I have never enjoyed a run (feet wise) as much as this one. My feet and knees felt great, aligned and sturdy. The only problem was from residual soreness in my calves from the weekend activities.

It has been so long since I blogged, I do not remember if I have already mentioned this or not... anyway, I tracked down an orthopedic surgeon that is a runner/triathlete... We talked about my goals of training for and completing the ironman and came to this: Goal Number 1. - DON'T GET INJURED!!!

Anyway, my floppy foot is much better after a month of PT and work on my proprioceptors. All of the exercises are ultra goofy, but I think they may be helping. On my first appointment with the orthotics guru, I received a soft and temporary orthotic. I wore them for a while and they made my feet sore... but they never seemed to help completely. Upon receipt of my new carbon fiber full rigid orthotics, the difference was immediate. He told me to break myself in an hour at a time over the next several weeks, but I could not wait... I ran tonight. And I loved it.

Tonight's Workout:
3 mile run with RD and her friend Cindy. The pace was 9ish. I really enjoyed it, but the bad news is this... RD completely ran me into the ground. She has been running (and getting hella hot in the process) and can now kick my ass. I better get my ass in gear!

Oh, I almost forgot... Today is happy new shoes day! YAY! I am out on the Brooks after a very short and not-good attempt to wear Brooks Trances... Back to the Asics Kayano.

2006-11-27T23:04:00.000-06:00

Remember the old saying: "I'll start training on Monday?"

Confession: Well, here it is Monday and guess who blew off training. Ugh.

I did make an effort to be an ironman today, though. In talking with my Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Powell (ASOM) who is also training for an ironman... The topic of training came up. He Suggested a book by Matt Fitzgerald. I ordered it on Amazon today and will tell you about it when I get it. Basically, it is a cookbook for training for the ironman. This is just what I need. The plan is to do the base routine twice in a row, each time ramping up then into the fray. I am super pumped and will have to really focus to start and keep slow in the run to avoid injury. That is, if I ever start!

2006-11-25T09:04:00.000-06:00

wOW! So it has been a while. Man, training took a turn for the worst. I am starting over today, Monday... yes another Monday start to training. For the past several weeks, life has been extremely hectic. I did get some training and cross training done, but the time to report here, to you, on this blog, has, been, well, let's just say, low priority. Not that any of my fans (you) are not my priority, just that I have not made time for you, so hate me.

Over the last few weeks, work has been very demanding. I had several 'until 10 or 11' work days. Super suck. I have been riding a bit, mostly mountain bikes. Friday after Thanksgiving, I had the bright idea to play tackle football with my Young Life highschoolers... what was I thinking? I managed to escape a trip to the emergency room, but ended up VERY sore. My hip flexors, abductors and feet were and still are killing me. In the middle of the game, I realized I was gambling with my ironman attempt. This occurred to me as I was running a little fade route... the ball was in the air, I was right on target... meanwhile I could hear/feel a six foot six, pimple faced, teenager breathing down my neck. He was at full sprint, head up, arms at perfect 90 degrees with hands bladed and pumping fast. It was at that moment that I remembered what happened last time I played tackle football in college. That game ended with me in the ER with a Liz Franc Injury (google it, its nasty). In fact, that injury is what has been causing me to spend countless dollars on physical therapy, orthotics, etc. Anyway, I "missed" the pass and the ball fell incomplete. The rest of the afternoon would be damage control and prayer. I cannot tell you how happy I was when we finally called the game. Whew.

The soreness kept me on the couch most of the rest of the day. Saturday morning brought immense stiffness. Nevertheless, I met Norm and we went for an epic mountain bike ride... We road all of Grapevine then went over to Nob Hills and rode all of it. We ended up with 35ish off road miles. That put me over the top. Towards the ended, I could not even lift my leg over the top tube.

I have been this sore before, but only a few times. Here's the deal... I love it! I means I am doing the right things... all except gambling with my ironman attempt, but the epic and painful rides are all necessary training... I LOVE IT!

Training Update

2006-11-09T08:11:00.000-06:00

I have recently been referred to as someones "favorite non-training fat ironman to be." After hearing this, I realized that due to my lack of posting updates, the general public (yes, all 2 of you) thinks I am not training and fat. Let me dispel that misconception: I have been training very hard. Yes, cross-training, in fact. I have been working very hard on my intestinal fortitude training. Last night, I did three sets of frozen margaritas with a shiner bock super set at the end. Between reps, I added a couple of sets of fish tacos, chips and lots of salsa.

I have been in the throws of a major career decision and the stress and focus has caused slight deviation. I will have you know, though, that I have not had a single dip of Copenhagen throughout the ordeal. This is huge for me. My usual stress crutch is a pinch of snuff.

The only beneficial thing I have done since last week's mountain bike ride is continued physical therapy. We are working on my foot, ankle and proprioceptors. Actually, the therapy has cause a great deal of soreness. I guess it is working. Monday, I go for my orthotics and will finally get to begin my run training. I am really fired up about all of that.

2006-11-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

Whew, what a weekend. What a great weekend. Didn't train much, but had a great weekend. I had a very good buddy come into town to visit. Instead of my usual Saturday morning bike ride, I power ate at Cafe Brazil... oooh MIGAS! My bowels will probably never recover. It was sort of a dreary weather weekend, so we moped around for most of the day, went to the book store and read and visited. My only Ironman training for Saturday night was a cheese eating workout followed by a wine drinking brick. This workout is for strengthening intestinal fortitude and a reverse core exercise. Let's just say I had a great workout.

Sunday morning we doubled up with another trip to Cafe Brazil... Oh yeah! I did ride Sunday, so that is good. I skipped church and got a short trail ride in. I rode pretty hard despite the belly full of pancakes, eggs, bacon, butter, coffee, last night's cheese... It was good. In fact I rode so hard I screwed up some spokes on my rear wheel.

Got home just in time for it to start raining. Then spent some time getting ready for Young Life club Monday. Then around late afternoonish, RB and I split for crazy Fort Worth to go hear the Fray play live. We ate at Joe T Garcia's and had a few cervesas before the show. I think I am officially finished eating for the year! The show was awesome! We got home at 1:00am, so I missed the Monday morning swim. I am just off to a stellar start!

2006-10-31T22:03:00.000-06:00

Tonight's workout was a little different... I went with RD to Power Yoga before the swim. I thought the stretching would be great for gimp foot and strength for my core (which is rather large right now). I found myself hating myself for choosing Yoga about 15 minutes in. Someone please tell me how the hell that is supposed to be relaxing? The instructor kept saying (in an annoying calm voice like a kindergarden teacher) "find your happy place, just let go, go deep into your heart, release the day and all the negative..." Meanwhile, I am trying to balance on one hand with my body twisted and every muscle tense causing me to shake... I am sweating so much that I am sliding on my little mat... Yeah, I got your happy place right here, biaznatch!

Swim Workout #5: 1,650 Meters

300 Warmup
3 x 100 Free for Time (1:22.38, 1:38.44, 1:38.44)
200 Pull with paddles
200 Kick with fins
200 pull with paddles
200 kick with fins
250 swim down

Observations:

Yoga, is not synonymous with relaxing and stretching. It reminded me of Junior High Football practice where coach made you lay on your back and hold your legs out straight, toes pointed 3 inches off the ground for an hour. That is basically power yoga, i.e., flex in some weird and awkward position and hold it until it hurts then hold it for about three minutes longer. Yeah, it sucks.
Confession: I think Yoga may be the ticket to a good and injury free ironman
This is an old one, but found it once again: you can go just as fast with a slow stroke and good form as cranking hard with bad form.
I am seriously considering joining a masters program... maybe Plano Wet Cats. We'll see.

Setback: The First Obstacle

2006-10-30T21:53:00.000-06:00

Today, I went for my much awaited Gait Analysis. Here's the short version: my gimp foot is all jacked up. Apparently the string of injuries I have had in my left foot over my life, including fracture, liz frank injury, ruptured achilles, IT band issues, and a torn adductor, are all interrelated. The end result is a floppy foot and a time bomb for a running injury. I am so glad I went. As the therapist set up the tripod to film me running, she said, "does that hurt?"

"What?" I was truely puzzeled.

"Running?" She said, "because it looks painful."

I am so glad I went. I am trying to avoid injury and apparently, the gait analysis was a great idea! Here's the problem: The Ortho said, NO RUNNING... until we get some therapy and especially orthotics in place. He said my love (or in my current history, hate) for running will drastically improve with orthotics. I am cautiously optimistic.

So I guess my training really does start Monday... Which Monday, I just don't know. I plan to keep swimming and cycling just the same... Just keep moving forward and make good decisions!

2006-10-30T07:52:00.000-06:00

Took advantage of the time change to trick myself into getting up early this morning for a swim. As part of my goal setting program, I am going to be moving the bulk of my run and swim workouts to before work. This will enable me to have a life, albeit a pretty lame and dorky one, after work.

So anyway, I did manage to get up early this morning. On 7 hours of sleep, I trudged to the gym. I am pleased with the lack of humans in the pool on Monday morning, it was nice and peaceful until about 7:00 and the fats and such came out of the woodwork (good for them, right?) The water seemed to have far less chemicals than Friday, and by far less chemicals, I mean you could see the bottom. I swam incident and burn free, so that is good news... however, the maintenance man and management staff all deny that anything was ever wrong with it... I seriously don't believe them. Additionally, the maintenance guy did mention that he came in on his day off to check the pool... right.

Swim workout #4:

200 Warmup
200 Pull (w/ paddles)
300 Kick (w/fins)
400 Free 8:08:22
200 Pull (w/ paddles)
300 Kick (w/ fins)
400 Free 8:10:02

Confessions:

I am very dissinterested in the warm up and cool down, I feel they are a waste of time. Somehow, I think that may be stupid, but let's go with it for now.
Felt like crap this morning in the pool... especially in the 400 set. Just felt a little out of synch and such. This shook my motivation a little bit.
I wanted to quit after the first kick set (just being honest)
Got a little bored today
Had a bit of a breakthrough on the pull paddle drill. Felt like my form was great and balanced.
I am worried about my form and the possibility that I am training myself into bad habits. I think I need to swim with someone or a group soon.

Oh, I almost forgot... today is my gait analysis. I am very excited about it. If I could just get to the point where running is fun and pain free, life would be great! My run training is to begin officially this week. I took about two weeks off to let my shinn splints heal from the monster tri. I think I am ready. Hopefully these types of decisions will keep me injury free until August!

2006-10-29T07:45:00.000-06:00

Bike Training:

Bike training today was a little different. I could not help myself... I went mountain biking. I really hope that I can work some of this type of "cross" training into my workout. I think one of the biggest things I will miss next summer and closer to reace time is moutain biking. It is just so much fun to me... anyway, Norm and I rode Northshore trail at Grapevine. Felt great most of the day, was climbing well and all... bonked with about 2 miles left. All in, a great 20 miles of interval taining.

2006-10-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

Friday Swim: 1700 Meters

300 (meter) warmup
200 free
200 pull (w/ paddles)
300 kick
200 free
200 pull (no paddles)
300 kick

Had to cut the swim workout short. After the second pull set, I noticed that my lips were stinging and burning. They were swollen and I felt a little like mush mouth from the Fat Albert gang. Anyway, then I noticed that I was breaking out into hives. I got out of the pool and showered. I felt like my skin was melting away. I had hives all over my body, feet, bottoms of my feet, ears, palms, and yes... even there. I am not sure WTF. I am kinda leery of the 24 hour fitness pool. The manager was gone, so I will have to call tomorrow.

Observations:

I take my skin for granted. I really like it and get upset when it melts.
I get a lot of funny looks from people when I bring an armload of swim toys to the pool.
It is hard to get motivated to swim alone on a Friday night.
People that you meet at the gym on a friday night are, in gerneral, pretty interesting.

2006-10-26T23:49:00.000-05:00

Training #2:

I did not accomplish my goal of 2000 meters tonight. I made it 1,600. I talked myself into cutting it short because I was running low on time and had to meet Norm for a night Mountain Bike ride at 8:00.

Swim 1,600 Meters:

300 Warmup (free)
100 Freestyle, Pace
200 Pull
200 Kick
2 x 300 Frestyle, Pace, 30 seconds between
200 Swim Down

Felt pretty good and relaxed in the pool... could almost close my eyes and swim. Motivation was a little low, mostly because of being tired and a little sore from yesterday's swim. Only got 5 hours sleep last night, so that sucks. My only comment to note is that my neck is really stiff.

After swimming, I met Norm for a little 10 miler at Grapevine on the mountain bikes. What a blast! I felt great, surprisingly! The swim did not seem to affect my performance except a little tri and shoulder soreness. All in all, a good day. I am finally getting over my cold and cough.

Observations:

Neck is a little stiff and shoulders a little sore. Hope this goes away soon!
Still feel and look a little fat. I am really excited to see this weight come off over the next 10 months.
Still love my new friends, Clyde and Dale.
RB does not like joking around while swimming. I filled a swim cap full of warm/hot water and dumped it on her from the edge of the pool while she swam. This really pissed her off. She promptly flipped me the bird and did not think it was funny. Oh well. I plan to keep messing with her until she lightens up

2006-10-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, so the new equipment and resulting motivation paid off. Tonight I had my first official Ironman training workout. Here are the details:

Swim 2000 Meters:

300 Meter Warmup (free)
100 Meter Freestyle at 1:40/100 pace
200 Pull
300 Kick
100 Meter Freestyle at 1:40/100 Pace
200 Pull
300 Kick
300 Freestyle at 1:40/100 Pace
200 Swim Down

Observations:

Breaking down the workout is much easier than what I have been doing. My swim workouts in the past have all been like: get in the pool and swim freestyle at as fast I could for as long as I could. Maybe take a few breaks. But pretty much if the race I was training for was 800 Meters, I would not stop until I hit 800 then I would triple it for good measure. All in, breaking it down seems a lot easier.
Kick fins are my new friends. I named my right fin Clyde and my left Dale. I love them and may even let them stay inside the house tonight.
The swim paddles were much harder than I remembered. I think I may use them while kicking to get my technique tuned up. When using them for the first time in a while (years) with the pull bouy, I found myself all over place.
Note to self: calm down on the first 50 of the kick drill. Sure it is neat to go fast, but it may result in a quad cramp in about 200 meters for now.
For some reason, I have the hardest damn time calculating swim distances in my head. My new nifty little finger counter went tits up after 48 laps. I think I may be mentally challenged. I try to chant to myself what lap I am on, but it all just gets mixed up. Why is this so hard and am I alone in this challenge?
From now on, I will need to write down my workout and maybe even plan it a little better before getting to the pool. Paper does not seem to last very long at poolside.

Finally, here is a confession. I was pretty pumped and proud to march into the pool with my new Keifer Swim Bag bursting with cool new and brightly colored swim toys... I was really fired up. That is until I saw fat-ass carrying it in the full length mirror in the locker room. Ouch, maybe I am not that cool. I think this may be some sort of payback from me making fun of "that guy." I am officially, "that guy." You know, the one that has all the right gear but is clearly terrible, slow and showing off. Next time I think I may just wrap Clyde and Dale in a towel and sneak them in. Or maybe not, who knows, maybe I'll get over it. I sure hope this weight starts dropping soon!

2006-10-25T18:33:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to gain motivation via a vehicle of investment, i.e. spending money on gear, I went to keifer swim shop today and threw down on fins, paddles, bag, lap counter, goggles, ear dildos, chamois (s) and a pull buoy. I am fired up. Maybe this will be the ticket to motivation! It should at least get me through the next couple of weeks.

So you are wondering what an ear dildo is... well, so I am in the shop and texting Phat Daddy David Morgan to get a read on swimming implements. My last question was around ear plugs. I am shopping away, waiting patiently for the reply and I get it. I glanced and noticed an answer. It read: "I use Macks pillowsoft aqua blockers. They are..." I stopped there thinking I had enough information then began handing the phone to the attractive young lady at the counter hoping to not have to expend much energy in describing my need. As my arm extended, I noticed the rest of the message: "...They are purple and look like little dildos." WHOOOW! I panicked and snapped the flip phone closed. It was too late, there was enough inertia and momentum to send the phone tumbling into a pile of kick boards. She reached and I intercepted. I was so rattled that I just said never mind shuffled to the register, giggling.

2006-10-24T18:31:00.000-05:00

Question number 1: Can I start my training tomorrow? How about next week?

This is the first week of training and already my schedule is not allowing me to train. How in the hell is this going to work? If I cannot get time to start training, then how am I going to get the training done when it really matters? Ugh.

I need to make some changes... that is becoming very apparent. I need to set some goals. I feel like there should be some prefabricated goals in a training manual somewhere that I should adopt... but for sake of being my own man, I will try to come up with my own and then maybe compare notes. The fist thing I need to do is start getting more sleep and start getting up in the morning. As of this morning, I usually roll out of bed 30 minutes from needing to be where I am to be in the morning. Realistically, there is no way I am going to be able to get all of these workouts in after work. Second, I need to figure out and establish my "one thing." I read about it on Trinewbies... here is what TriNewbies says about the "one thing:"

The "One Thing"
What is your One Thing, your reason for being out there in the first place? Solidify a clear purpose for the day and then expect your body to question your mind's commitment to that purpose. Expect this internal debate and prepare/rehearse your rebuttal. I remind myself that the pain and discomfort I feel is only temporary. Pain can't stop the clock and no matter how bad it gets, it has to end sometime. My job is to keep running in a straight line until they tell me to stop.

Just reading that gives me freakin goose bumps... but at this point, I have several things... I need to find that one thing and also start my training... maybe tomorrow.

2006-10-23T23:15:00.000-05:00

MONDAY 10-23-2006:

Today is the official first day of training. Well, I guess I am off with a bang. Let's see, the training I had planned for today way to swim 2000 and run 3 to 5. Did it happen? Nope. Instead I consumed about 2000 calories of pizza, wings, Dr. Peppers, a sonic blast and a corn dog. Tonight was Young Life Club and the training just did not materialize. Not good. I keep telling myself that I have plenty of time, but in the back of my mind I know that kind of logic will be dangerous down the road. I am on the edge of mediocrity. Very close to not being motivated... I must nip this in the bud. The plan is to move on, forget about today and start again tomorrow. On thing I know is that in the event, as is in life, you must live in the now. Worry about what you can control and let go of the rest.

I am confident in myself to pull it together. The picture of myself crossing the finish line depicts a very different human being than what is pounding out this blog entry. There will be a lot of changes from here to there, that I am certain. I am excited to see that picture of me finishing the Ironman. Please understand that I will have to be border line obsessed with Ironman in order to motivate myself, so try not to get sick of it.

One of my main motivators right now is the inspiration received by reading Dean Karnazes Ultra Marathon Man. This book is truly amazing... showing proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary crap. An Ironman is just a drop in the bucket compared to the things Dean has done and written about in his book. Check out his website: http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/

2006-10-23T17:31:00.000-05:00

Training Schedule:

The race is 10 months (roughly) away... In talking with PD, I am going to piggy back on a training program that has been used in the past. I think it comes from a well known local coach. He is possibly an awesome coach, but I don't have the money to pay for him, so I mooch. Anyway, Weeks One and Two Look like this:

MONDAY

Swim 2000 MetersRun
3 to 5 Miles

TUESDAY

Swim 2000 MetersBike
MetersBike 20 to 30 Miles

WEDNESDAY

MetersRun Meters
Run 3 to 5 Miles

THURSDAY

Swim 2000 Meters

FRIDAY

Swim 2000 Meters

SATURDAY

Ride 30 to 50 Miles

SUNDAY

Run 6 to 10 Miles

Okay, so this is a plan for someone 9 to 10 months out from an Ironman distance. Here are my frist observations/thoughts upon first viewing the plan.

Holy Crap
Holy Crap that is more than I thought
This is assuming allot
How the hell can this be how it starts? What will it be like closer to race time??? Daily Marathons?
Holy Crap

2006-10-23T12:10:00.000-05:00

As of Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 3:12 PM, I am officially registered for the Louisville Ironman!

WELCOME! This blog will serve as a chronicle of my Ironan attempt for the Louisville, KY Ironman August 26, 2007. You do not know who I am at this point, but I may change that depending on the interest. I would like to keep a journal of every detail so I can reflect no matter what happens. As of now, I am the only one who knows who I am and I still don't know if that person is an IRONMAN.

Stay tuned as I log the highs and lows and training woes on my way to becoming an Ironman.